Turtlehead 'Hot Lips'
Chelone lyonii 'Hot Lips' · Plantaginaceae
Stiff stems of glossy, dark leaves topped with rosy-pink, hooded flowers shaped like a turtle's head, in late summer and early autumn.
- Size
- 3 ft tall, 24 in wide
- Zones
- 3 to 8
- Light
- Full sun to part shade
- Flowers
- Mid August to late September
- Pets
- No toxicity recorded
- Job in a bed
- Drift
A bed built around turtlehead 'Hot Lips'
The planner designed this bed around turtlehead 'Hot Lips' when this page was made: a 12 × 6 ft (3.7 × 1.8 m) cottage garden in zone 6, part sun. It chose the other plants from the 708 that suit those conditions, and says below why turtlehead 'Hot Lips' stands where it does.
The plants
- 1 Turtlehead 'Hot Lips' × 5, pink
- 2 Moor grass 'Greenlee' × 3, tan
- 3 Mouse-ear coreopsis 'Nana' × 25, yellow
- 4 Swamp milkweed × 3, white
- 5 Globe arborvitae 'Danica' × 1, green leaves
- 6 Spring starflower × 12, blue
- 7 Double snowdrop × 5, white
Why this plant
- The only pink.
Why here
- Anchors a back corner. At 3 ft it is one of the taller plants here, and the tallest close the ends of the bed, where they stand in front of nothing.
- A step in the back row. Next to swamp milkweed (4 ft): no two neighbours there are the same height, so the back steps up and down like a skyline.
- 5 plants in one group. Massed, one kind reads as a single shape. Scattered, it would look spotty.
Why now
- In flower for 7 weeks. From mid August to late September.
- Closes the season. For its last five weeks nothing else on the plan is in flower.
Planned as a cottage garden: 37 of the 37 plants (100%), bulbs aside, stand alone or in groups of no more than five, small enough for the kinds to mingle. Swamp milkweed and turtlehead 'Hot Lips' anchor the back corners of the bed: the tallest plants on the plan stand there. Mouse-ear coreopsis 'Nana' and moor grass 'Greenlee' finish the front edge.
The planner's own design check: 11 Excellent, 6 Good. It flags one thing to watch: Nothing on this plan is highly poisonous or an aggressive spreader.
Open this bed in the planner Change its size, the sun or the style, move plants about, or swap one for another.
Where turtlehead 'Hot Lips' goes in a border
At 3 ft it belongs in the middle of a bed. In the planner's ten height classes it is medium tall (2½ to 3 ft).
Its job: drift. Planted in a small group of three or five, and repeated further along in the other number.
One of the few plants that flowers well in shade in September, and it never needs staking. Its dark, glossy foliage is a good foil for ferns all summer before the flowers come.
- Late colour for moist shade
- Rain gardens and stream sides
- A host plant for the Baltimore checkerspot butterfly
What to plant with turtlehead 'Hot Lips'
Plants recorded as good partners for it, and what each pairing does:
- Japanese anemone: in flower together for seven weeks, from mid August; happy in the same moist soil.
- Great blue lobelia: in flower together for six weeks, from mid August; happy in the same moist soil.
- Cinnamon fern: its green leaves are a setting for the flowers, before and after.
Questions about turtlehead 'Hot Lips'
Does turtlehead 'Hot Lips' need sun or shade?
Turtlehead 'Hot Lips' grows in full sun (6 or more hours of direct sun a day), part sun (4 to 6 hours of sun, including some afternoon sun) and part shade (2 to 4 hours of sun, mostly in the morning).
It wants soil that stays evenly moist, rich in organic matter, and plenty of water. It copes with soil that stays wet.
What zones does turtlehead 'Hot Lips' grow in?
USDA zones 3 to 8. It is hardy to zone 3, which means it survives winter nights down to about −30 °F (−34 °C).
Above zone 8 it struggles: the zones measure winter cold, but a plant's top zone usually means the summers are too hot or the winters too mild for it to rest.
Gardening in Canada? Use the USDA zone for your town: Canada's own zone map uses different numbers.
When does turtlehead 'Hot Lips' flower in my zone?
In zone 5 it flowers mid August to late September. As a summer flower it moves about half a week for every zone: earlier where it is warmer.
| Zone 3 | Late August to late September |
|---|---|
| Zone 4 | Late August to late September |
| Zone 5 | Mid August to late September |
| Zone 6 | Mid August to late September |
| Zone 7 | Early August to late September |
| Zone 8 | Early August to late September |
Worked out from Hopkins' bioclimatic law: spring arrives about four days later for each degree of latitude north, and one zone is roughly two degrees. A warm spring or a cold one moves any garden two weeks either way.
How far apart should turtlehead 'Hot Lips' be planted?
18 in (45 cm) apart, from the middle of one plant to the middle of the next. That is a little closer than its full width of 24 in (60 cm), so a group knits into one patch.
It grows 3 ft (90 cm) tall. Give it the full distance from anything taller, or it will lean out towards the light.
How many turtlehead 'Hot Lips' plants do I need?
At 18 in apart, set out in staggered rows:
- 5 to fill 10 square feet (about 1 m²)
- 7 for a single row 10 ft (3 m) long
- 17 to fill a 4 × 8 ft bed on its own
In a mixed border, plant it as a group of three or five, with a second group further along in the other number.
In the bed above, the planner used five in one group.
Is turtlehead 'Hot Lips' poisonous to dogs and cats?
No toxicity is recorded for dogs, cats, horses or people, according to NC State Extension.
"Not toxic" is not "edible": a pet that eats a lot of any plant can be sick.
Do deer eat turtlehead 'Hot Lips'?
Mostly not. NC State lists it as resistant to deer. No plant is proof against a hungry deer in a hard winter, but this one is low on the menu.
What flowers after turtlehead 'Hot Lips'?
Turtlehead 'Hot Lips' is over by late September. These start as it finishes and carry the same spot on, so it never goes flat:
- Chrysanthemum 'Sheffield Pink': from late September to early November, 2½ ft tall.
- October daphne: from mid September to late October, 8 in tall, to stand in front of it and cover its fading stems.
- Autumn crocus: from mid September to mid October, 5 in tall, to stand in front of it and cover its fading stems.
What does turtlehead 'Hot Lips' look like in winter?
Turtlehead 'Hot Lips' dies down to the ground and there is nothing to see until spring. The old stems can be cut in autumn, or left until spring as shelter for overwintering insects.
Is turtlehead 'Hot Lips' good for bees and butterflies?
Turtlehead 'Hot Lips' is visited by pollinators, bees, butterflies and hummingbirds.
It is native to the United States (this is a named variety of the native plant).
More Chelone
- Rose turtlehead Chelone obliqua
- White turtlehead Chelone glabra
In these guides
- Plants for wet soil and rain gardens
- Deer-resistant plants for shade
- Deer-resistant perennials for full sun
- Pet-safe plants for a sunny border
- Pet-safe plants for shade
- Native perennials for pollinators
- Native plants for shade
- Plants for hummingbirds
- Plants for butterflies
- Plants for bees
- Plants with spires: vertical accents
- Plants that flower in fall
Zone guides: Zone 3 · Zone 4 · Zone 5 · Zone 6 · Zone 7 · Zone 8
Every fact on record
- Type
- Perennial
- Size
- 3 ft (90 cm) tall, 24 in (60 cm) wide
- Plant
- 18 in (45 cm) apart
- Height class
- Medium tall (2½ to 3 ft)
- Place in the bed
- Middle
- Flowers
- Mid August to late September; upright spires; pink
- Leaves
- Medium texture, herbaceous; dark green
- Shape
- Upright, clumping
- Hardy in
- USDA zones 3 to 8
- Light
- Full sun, part sun, part shade
- Soil
- Rich, evenly moist
- Water
- High
- Feeding
- Light, in spring
- Family
- Plantaginaceae
- Comes from
- South Eastern U.S.A
- Attracts
- Pollinators, bees, butterflies, hummingbirds
- Stands up to
- Deer, wet soil
Checked against NC State Extension. Flowering times are for zone 5: later in colder zones, earlier in warmer ones. Toxicity and spread information is a general gardening guide, not veterinary or medical advice, and invasive status varies by region. If a person or pet eats a plant, contact poison control or a vet. Check your local invasive species list before planting anything with a spread warning.